Foreclosure activity back on the rise

Foreclosure filings-which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions-increased 2 percent in May, rising from a 75-month low in April, according to the latest foreclosure report from RealtyTrac.

Still, foreclosure filings are down 28 percent from a year ago.

The May increase was largely attributed to an 11 percent increase in bank repossessions. Foreclosure starts also ticked up 4 percent in May over last month, with 26 states posting increases, according to the report.

"Foreclosure activity continued to bounce back in some markets where it may have appeared the foreclosure problem had been knocked out by an aggressive combination of foreclosure prevention efforts over the past two years," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "Places like Nevada, where foreclosure starts increased to a 20-month high, and Maryland, where overall foreclosure activity increased to a 33-month high. Still, the emerging housing recovery has strengthened most local markets enough to quickly shake off a few more blows from these nagging foreclosures."

The top foreclosure rates in the country were in Florida, Nevada, and Ohio. Florida saw a 20 percent increase in foreclosure activity in May, accelerating it to the highest foreclosure rate in the country for the month. One in every 302 Florida households received a foreclosure filing in May-nearly triple the national average.

After 27 months of decreases, Nevada foreclosure activity rose in May, with one in every 305 households receiving a foreclosure filing. The increase was driven by an 81 percent year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts, which reached a 20-month high in May, RealtyTrac reported.

Ohio posted the third-highest foreclosure rate in the country, where one in every 584 households received a foreclosure filing during May. Still, that's a 27 percent decrease from a 31-month high the state reached in April.